Chiappone gets one year probation, $5,000 fine

Superior Court Judge Gerald J. Council today sentenced former Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Bayonne) to one year of probation and fined him $5,000 for filing false reports with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Chiappone in his guilty plea admitted that he completed and certified campaign contribution and expenditure reports filed with ELEC for the 2005 Chiappone for Assembly campaign, “knowing that they were false because they failed to report five state-issued paychecks for a legislative aide totaling $3,233.64 that were deposited into the campaign account,” according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

The former lawmaker falsely certified that contributions to the campaign did not exceed ELEC limits, even though the total of the aide’s checks exceeded the limit of $2,600 for contributions from a single individual.

“Mr. Chiappone broke the law, as well as the oath he took as a state assemblyman to honestly serve the people of New Jersey,” said Attorney General Paula Dow. “As a result of our prosecution, he will never again hold public office in New Jersey.”